Bullying

A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention

Faye Mishna

Emphasizes the importance of relationships (among students, teachers, parents, school admistrators, and pupil personnel) in understanding and responding bullying

Highlights new forms of victimization (such as cyber bullying) and marginalized groups of students (such as LGBT youth)

Accessible to both students and practitioners

Bullying

A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention

Faye Mishna

Description

With the increased recognition of the devastating effects of bullying, there is now a tremendous amount of information available on its prevalence, associated factors, and the evaluation data on well known school-wide anti-bullying education, prevention, and intervention programs. Yet numerous complex issues span individual and societal variables---including individual characteristics and vulnerability, peer and family relationships and dynamics, classroom and school milieus, and stigma and discrimination---making the task of understanding, assessing, and responding to bullying on the ground complicated for researchers and nearly impossible for school-based practitioners.

Untangling some of the thorny issues around what causes and constitutes bullying,
including how to think differently about overlapping phenomena such as racism, sexism, homophobia, or sexual harassment, Faye Mishna presents an exhaustive body of empirical and theoretical literature in such a way as to be accessible to both students and practitioners. Chapters will equip readers to think critically about contexts, relationships, and risk and protective factors that are unique to individual students and schools, and to effectively assess and design multi-level interventions for a variety of aggressive behaviors. Paying particular attention to emerging types of victimization, such as cyber bullying, and to vulnerable groups, such as LGBTQ youth and students with disabilities, Mishna distills the key elements of successful interventions with both victims and aggressors
and includes case examples and practice principles throughout.

The result is an integrated, nuanced synthesis of current and cutting-edge scholarship that will appeal to students, practitioners, and researchers in social work, education, and psychology.

Bullying

A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention

Faye Mishna

Table of Contents

1. The Context of Bullying: Definition, Prevalence, and Controversies2. Individual, Family, and Social Factors Associated with Bullying3. Theories that Help to Understand Bullying4. Pinning the Tail on the Donkey: Conceptualizing, Identifying, and Responding to Bullying5. The School: Multiple Levels and Systems6. Cyber Bullying in a Cyber World7. Bullying within Friendships8. Challenges and Obstacles: Intervention and Treatment9. Intervention and Treatment: Relationships10. Treatment Intervention, Collaboration, and Consultation

NotesReferencesIndex

Bullying

A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention

Faye Mishna

Author Information

Faye Mishna, PhD, is Professor and Dean at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto.

Bullying

A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention

Faye Mishna

Reviews and Awards

"With so many books on bullying available, one might wonder what a new book can add that is new or different. Bullying, by noted bullying scholar Dr. Faye Mishna, approaches this complex problem from the perspective of relationships, which gives the reader additional important insights into this important problem behavior. Dr. Mishna's research has made a significant contribution to the field of bullying research; this new book provides a nuanced look at bullying in a highly readable book suitable for a variety of audiences. Scholars and practitioners alike will benefit from the valuable material presented in this new volume, which will occupy a prominent position on my bookshelf." -- Sheri Bauman, PhD, University of Arizona

"This is an excellent text for students, practitioners, and researchers in this important area. It combines an integrative review of the literature and most pertinent research findings with a great attention to the human story that unfolds when bullies and victims are examined closely. The book maintains the vital balance between presenting and understanding the personal and unique and the overall cultural, social, and interpersonal context in which bullying takes place. The chapter on treatment intervention, collaboration, and consultation reflects the balance between keen clinical insight and understanding the impact of social contexts." -- Rami Benbenishty, PhD, Bar Ilan University, Israel

"Faye Mishna's incisive book is an essential reference for researchers, policy makers, and educators who spend time with children and adolescents. It is solidly grounded in evidence from research and practice, clearly addressing the contemporary issues confronting adults working to prevent or respond to all forms of bullying, including cyber bullying, behavior. It is comprehensive, insightful, and sensitive to the needs and concerns of children and young people." -- Donna Cross, EdD, Edith Cowan University, Australia

"In summary, Bullying: A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention would be a
recommended resource for readers who wish to get a quick understanding of issues
surrounding bullying." -- Rich Gilman, PsycCRITIQUES

"Mishna (social work, Univ. of Toronto) attempts to present a broad picture of the problem, stressing that it is a worldwide phenomenon. The author favors an ecological approach, looking at the various micro and macro systems that affect particular situations in terms of personal and social relationships. She cites many sources and includes case studies demonstrating some successful interventions." -- S. Sugarman, emerita, Bennington College, Vermont State Colleges, CHOICE

Bullying

A Guide to Research, Intervention, and Prevention

Faye Mishna

From Our Blog

In Bully, Emmy award-winning director Lee Hirsch invites viewers to spend a year in the lives of students and parents who deal with public torment and humiliation on a daily basis. By following the young victims from the classroom to their living rooms, viewers are given an intimate look into the effects that bullying has on these targets and their families. While parents and administrators scramble to find a solution to the problem, they must ask themselves: how do we differentiate bullying from conflict within friendships?